Jump Balls in the NBA, 4-Year Data, Winners, Losers

04Jan

Every game in the NBA starts with a jump ball and yet you can hardly find any data about it. Currently the best one is at 82games.com but it’s a half of old season so I thought it would be nice to jump start new year on this blog with a fringe and obscure statistic which most often happens in the beginning of every game.

Using play-by-play data from ESPN.com I collected all jump balls and it’s results in the last 4 years [including those in the middle of games and overtimes] so you can find answers to such important questions like:what players were the best at winning jump balls in each of last 4 season? Which players struggled? Which were asked most often to jump for it?

According to aforementioned link it’s was a popular request back in the day so, um, you are welcome ;-)

I don’t think so on both counts because it’s not fully automated and it requires some manual editing, especially with the results.
BTW, what you would find in data from 2011/12 which wasn’t covered in earlier years?
To be fair I haven’t thought about it as a betting opportunity, does winning a jump ball even help that much? It’s still at best 50% chance to score, right?

I believe that the team who has the ball first scores first about 64% of the time. I looked at it awhile ago, and then didn’t come back to it. But 64% is probably enough to make 1-2 plays a night worthwhile. Even if the first shot isn’t made, the chances of hitting free throws, getting an o-rebound and scoring, or scoring on your 2nd/3rd possession all add up.

The more current the data, the more useful it would be, I would think. It’d certainly deserve more weight.